Header Photo

About

Professional Headshot

Kueyoung is a senior at Penn State studying Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics. Through his interdisciplinary research projects ranging from elucidating how surfactants impact wetted oil droplets to employing DNA origami to investigate photosynthetic energy transport, he has had the opportunity to join diverse scientific communities across the world, including at the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, and MIT. He has authored two first-author publications and received multiple awards for his work at local and national conferences. In his future endeavors pursuing a PhD in Chemistry and a research career as a professor, he is determined to apply his collaborative mindset and ceaseless curiosity to tackle problems in sustainability at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and biology.

Outside of the lab, Kueyoung organizes science outreach for local K12 students and serves as the President of the Eberly College of Science’s student ambassador organization. In his free time, you can find Kueyoung lumbering through his (admittedly daunting) stack of "to be read" literary fiction, lifting heavy objects for fun in the gym, and agonizing over his coffee-brewing technique.

Interests: Materials, Sustainability, Physical Chemistry, Physical Biology
Email: [email protected]

Projects

The Pennsylvania State University, 2021–25

2025
Project Image

History-dependent motility of active droplets
Q. Le*, K. Kim*, B. Khaer, L. D. Zarzar #, in preparation
Abstract: Coming soon!

2024
Project Image

Chemical programming of solubilizing, non-equilibrium active droplets
K. Kim, R. Balaj, L. D. Zarzar #, Accounts of Chemical Research
Abstract: The multifunctionality and resilience of living systems has inspired an explosion of interest in creating materials with life-like properties. Just as life persists out-of-equilibrium, we too should try to design materials that are thermodynamically unstable but can be harnessed to achieve desirable, adaptive behaviors...

View Article
2024
Project Image

Liquid-liquid surfactant partitioning drives dewetting of oil from hydrophobic surfaces
K. Kim*, W. Xue*, L. D. Zarzar #, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
Abstract: Sessile droplets solubilizing in surfactant solution are frequently encountered in practice, but the factors governing their non-equilibrium dynamics are not well understood. Here, we investigate mechanisms by which solubilizing, sessile oil droplets in aqueous surfactant solution dewet from hydrophobic substrates and spread on hydrophilic substrates...

View Article

* equal contribution, # corresponding author

Curriculum Vitae

Education

    B.S. Chemistry (Honors), Penn State, 2021–2025 [expected]
    GPA: 4.0/4.0

Research Experience

  • Penn State, Dept. of Chemistry
    Advisor: Lauren Zarzar
    Topic: Non-equilibrium dynamics of oil-in-water emulsions

  • MIT, Dept. of Biological Engineering
    Advisor: Mark Bathe
    Topic: Optimizing excitonic energy transfer in DNA origmi

  • Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
    Advisor: David Zwicker
    Topic: Thermodynamic modeling of cellular polarization

  • UC Berkeley, Dept. of Chemistry
    Advisor: Matthew Francis
    Topic: Micellar drug delivery to glioblastoma

  • UPenn, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics
    Advisor: Robert Carpick
    Topic: Shear-driven mechanochemical reactions

Select Honors

  • Rhodes Scholarship Finalist, 2024
  • First Place Poster Award, ACS National Meeting (COLL), 2023
  • Goldwater Scholarship, 2023
  • Millennium Scholars Program, 2021

Service and Leadership

  • President, Science LionPride, 2021–pres.
  • Independent K-12 Science Outreach, 2021–pres.
  • Penn State Chemistry Research Ambassador, 2022–pres.
  • Fluid Mechanics Teaching Assistant, Fa22/Sp23
  • Event Supervisor, Science Olympiad at Penn State, 2021–2024
View Full CV

Contact

LinkedIn Twitter GitHub Google Scholar OrCID OrCID